Improvement in machinery for polishing buttons



2Sheets-Sheet2. R. H. ISBELL.V

Machinery for Polishing Buttons. N0.i5,960. `Patented Mayi9,1874,

l\ il il il Ii H iliiilil IIIHULH nur t ROBERT H. ISBELL, OF NEW MILFORD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FDR FOLlSifilN- BUTTONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 150,960, dated May 19, 1874; application filed i October 22, 1873.

finishing of buttons of ivory, bone, horn, &c.,

after they have been brought substantially to shape by the usual processes of manufacture. The invention. also includes certain novel combinations of mechanical parts, whereby the.

operation just hereinbefore specified is successfully carried outinvpractice.

Figure l is a central vertical longitudinal section of the machine. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same, taken in the line w .c of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front view of the same. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a portion ofthe saine, taken in the line y y of Fig. 2. i

Upon the forward end of a suitable bed or frame, A, is provided a iiat circular disk or carrier-plate, lIB, furnished at its periphery with radial teeth a, and (concentric with its axis) with an annular series of holes, b, these holes having a diameter and circumferential form corresponding to those of the buttons or articles to be finished or polished, and extend quite through the carrier-plate. The carrierplate itself is furnished with a downwardlyprojecting axial shaft, c, which works in a bearing formed in the iixed plate G, the latter, except as hereinafter stated, closing the holes b in the carrier-plate. At the back of the plate G is a vertical guide, a', in which works a lifter, D. Upon the upper end of this lifter, and within the guide, rests the die E. Around the upper portion of the guide is provided a steam-chamber, b', furnished with steam-pipes d, connecting with a suitable steam-generator, and designed by the circulation of steam through it to heat the die E. Arranged vertically coincident with the lifter D and die E is a rotating die, F, working in bearings provided in the lower part of a sliding head, G, which moves in suitable guides, A', fixed upon the frame A. This head carries an upright shaft, G', upon the upper extremity of which are fast and loose pulleys C' B', and which has at its lower end a pinion, D', gearing into a spur-wheel, F', on the rotating' die F. The

pulleys B' C' have a belt, Gt, running to a suitably-provided shaft or counter-shaft. The position of the two dies E F is such that, as the carrier-plate B is intermittently rotated,

the holes b thereof will pass in succession irnmediately between the dies, to permit the upper or rotating die to pass through the holes, to act in conjunction with the other or lower die, which remains iixed, except when lifted to discharge the finished article, as hereinafter explained. Formed in the plate C, coincident with the adjacent portion of the series of holes b in the carrier-plate above, is a slot, e, below which is an outlet chute or spout, f, as represented in Fig. 4. The lower extremity of the lifter D is slotted to allow a lever, g, to pass through it, one end of which lever is pivoted at one side, a", of the frame A, while the other end is curved upward about a cam, m, (on a shaft, H, extending along the side of the said frame,) as indicated more fully in Fig.. 3. The shaft H has at its forward end a spiral disk or cam, h, which, by its action at intervals on the teeth a, gives anintermittent rotary movement to the carrier-plate, thereby insuring the retention, in succession, of each hole b above the die E and below the die F for a certain definite time. This shaft H gears, by bevelwheels n r, with a bell-crank shaft, J, driven by spur-gears at from a driving-shaft, K, furnished with a pulley, u, for a suitable drivingbelt. L is an elbow-lever, the lower extremity of which is pivoted to the lower part of the sliding head G, and the free end ot' which connects by a pitman, w, with the crank mit of the shaft J. The bend of this elbow-lever has pivoted to it the bar z, the upper end of which bar is pivoted to the iixed guides A' in such manner that the said bar and the part c" of the elbow-lever constitute together a togglejoint capable of giving, from the rotation of the crank, a-vcrtical movement to the head G, thedownward stroke of the latter continually increasing in power as the toggle-joint straightens.

The operation is as follows: The buttons or other like articles are placed singly in the holes b, and, by the hereinbefore-described movement of the carrier-plate, are brought under the rotating die F. This done, and the movement of the carrier for the moment intermitted, the sliding head G is brought downward with great force by the straightening of the toggle-j oint, the die E, carried bysaid head, being meanwhile rapidly rotated by the action of the belt on the fast pulley C of the shaft G. As a consequence the button is subjected simultaneously to great pressure and to the frictiontal contact of the-die F upon its upper or outer surface, the face of this die corresponding in contour to that of the just-indicated surface of the button. rlhe action described effectually burnishes such surface, rendering it smooth and polished, giving brightness and distinctness to the color, and sharplydened shape and outline to the grooves and ridges provided for ornamentation on the button, and which, as experience has shown, cannot be formed by a cutting-tool without having a certain raggedness, which materially deteriorates from the finish of the article. It will, of course, be understood that the face of the lower die F corresponds to the contour of the lower side or back of the button. The button having been acted upon as just set forth, the continued operation of the machine raises the head G, and consequently the die F. Immediately succeeding this the cam m elevates the lever g, which moves upward the lifter D, forcing upward the lower die E until its top is level with the upper surface of the plate C. This done, the action of the cam or spiral disk h on the teeth a of the carrier-plate B turns the hole b, containing the finished button, over the slot e in the plate G, whereupon the button falls by its own weight through the said slot upon the chute f, by which it is conducted away from the machine. The same movement which thus brings the finished button into a position to be discharged from the carrier-plate B brings the succeeding hole b into proper position with reference to the dies to insure upon its contained button the operation of the dies to polish or finish the same in the same manner as the one previously treated, the buttons being placed in the holes b at the front ofthe carrier-plate, and conveyed, by the movement of the said carrier-plate, in succession, to the dies, and thence to the slot e, whence they are discharged to and from the chute f. i

In this manner not only buttons but checkermen, ornamental nail-heads, and similar articles of vegetable ivory, horn, bone, Sto., may be finely finished at a slight expense, the materials just named being toughened and rendered less liable to fracture while undergoing manipulation by the heating of the die E, upon which they rest, by means of the surrounding steam-chamber.

What I claim as my invention isl. The combination of the carrier-plate B, the rotating die F, and the fixed die E, arranged for joint operation substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the fixed and rotating dies, of a heating device, so arranged that the button may be heated during treatment, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. rlhe combination of the sliding head C, carrying the die F, the toggle-joint e, and the crank-shaft J, the whole arranged for joint operation substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the carrier-plate B, arranged to convey the finished buttons from lthe dies, of the lifter l), substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, with the carrier-plate, arranged to convey the polished buttons from `the dies Fi F, of the chute j', substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination, with the lifter D, of the lever g and the cam m on the shaft H, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination of the carrier-plate, arranged as specified with reference to the dies, of the series of teeth a and the cam h, acting in unison with the sliding head G, substan tially as and for the purpose set forth.

ROBERT Il. ISBELL. lVit-nesses:

J AMES A. WHITNEY, Gniis. QUETIL. 

